Make Nonprofits Profitable™ | For Nonprofit Leaders Who Want to Diversify Revenue, Build Capacity & Scale to Sustain Impact

Tanja Horan
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

Make Nonprofits Profitable™ challenges the conventional thinking holding nonprofits back from achieving their full impact. Each episode leaves you with a new perspective, an idea or tool you can actually apply to diversify funding, strengthen operations, and advance your mission. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.

  1. 3d ago

    EP 14 The Art & Science Where Nonprofit Execution Falls Short

    You ask three people on your team how long it will take to build a new earned revenue offering. You get three completely different answers. One pads the estimate to protect himself. One underestimates because she believes she can always do more in less time. One gives you the most realistic, along with what she knows, what she doesn't, and how that affects the timeline. Which one is right? That depends on whether you know your estimators. Bridging strategy and execution is both an art and a science. Most organizations have the science — the frameworks, the templates, the process. It's the art where the gap lives: reading your team, calibrating what you hear, and adapting before a plan falls apart. This episode is about that art.  A practical lens for reading your team's estimating styles — and a framework to help you close the gap between strategy and execution. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.  Key Takeaways      Undocumented assumptions are risks waiting to surface      Know your estimators' styles so you can calibrate your plan.     "Bigger than a breadbasket" scale: use it when you need a directional estimate. Define small, medium, and large for your org and apply it consistently.      Speak to both the business mindset and human drivers when communicating the plan.       Foster an environment that values: Honest estimates over impressive ones. Documented assumptions and "I don't know yet" aa trusted answer. Resources Referenced in This Episode ·       DOWNLOAD: Top 5 Tips: Effective Product Roadmap & Plan Communications — A practical guide for tailoring how you communicate plans, timelines, and direction to every audience in your organization.  https://bit.ly/tacosa360-roadmap-communications Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics: nonprofit execution gap, nonprofit project management, how to estimate projects nonprofit, nonprofit strategy execution, nonprofit planning and budgeting, nonprofit team management, strategy to execution

    11 min

  2. May 30

    EP 13 Closing the Execution Gap: Why Good Initiatives Fail to Deliver

    You asked for a tire swing and ended up with a lazy boy hanging from two ropes. The goal was simple: build a tire swing. That was the vision. That was the dream. And yet, by the time that vision traveled from the person who imagined it, to the person who communicated it, to the person who analyzed it, to the person who built it — what came back was something completely different. The tire swing never got built. The original vision was never fully realized. The culprit behind failed initiatives and projects for nonprofit and for-profit organizations is not a strategy failure. It is an execution failure. Specifically the reason for the failure is the bridge connecting strategy to execution was never fully built. Project management is a leadership discipline — not just an operational one. Nonprofit organizations that consistently deliver are the ones where leaders ask the right questions, protect team focus, and remove barriers before they become blockers. The question is never whether you have a strategy. It is whether you and your team can execute it. In this episode of Make Nonprofits ProfitableTM, Tanja Horan opens the Strategy to Execution series with the leadership framing nonprofit executives need before a single initiative or project begins. Using data from the Project Management Institute which finds that only about half of all projects succeed and the Hershey's case study as a real-world anchor, this episode breaks down the four root-cause failure categories where good initiatives consistently fall apart: strategy, planning, leadership, and communication. Each one requires the leadership team first. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.   Key Takeaways Strategies fail because the bridge between strategy and execution was never built. Connecting strategy and execution is a leadership discipline, not just an operations responsibility. Leadership engagement and sponsorship is more important than any single executor — without it, the project and the organization are at risk. Successful initiatives require teams understand the why behind strategy, aligned objectives and incentives, and a consistent prioritization framework to maintain focus. Execution is a leadership discipline. Organizations deliver when leadership asks the right questions, uses data, protects team focus, and proactively removes barriers. Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics: nonprofit project management, closing the execution gap, why nonprofit projects fail, nonprofit strategy to execution, execution is leadership, nonprofit initiative failure, project management for nonprofit leaders, nonprofit leadership accountability, Make Nonprofits Profitable podcast, nonprofit executive strategy

    13 min

  3. May 18

    EP12 [BONUS]: Three Checks, One System: The Executive-Level View Nonprofit Leaders Need to Grow & Scale

    Have you ever looked at a handmade teapot and wondered how it was made? Every piece — the handle, the lid, the spout — is crafted individually. Beautiful on its own. Functional on its own. And together they create a system — a teapot. The three diagnostic tools work the same way. In this bonus episode, Tanja Horan brings together the three diagnostic tools introduced in Episodes 3, 6, and 10 — and shows how they work as one connected system. The Readiness Check asks: where are we starting from? The Revenue Mix Check asks: is our funding model working for us? The Systems Reality Check asks: can our operations support what we are building? Three questions. Three vantage points. One picture. Each tool is valuable on its own. Together they give nonprofit leaders the executive-level visibility to move from reacting — to responding and leading. New to the podcast? Start here, then go back to Episodes 3, 6, and 10 for the tool details and downloads. Already listened to the individual episodes? This is the episode that ties them together. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways The Readiness Check, the Revenue Mix Check, and the Systems Reality Check are designed to work together as one executive-level system. Each Check answers a different question. Together the three views reveal patterns and potential risks no single tool can. Operational gaps are rarely random — they are often the downstream result of an organizational readiness gap. Clarity drives the right action. Used as a system, the three Checks give nonprofit leaders the visibility to respond and lead instead of react. Resources  •       Episode 3 — The Readiness Check: the five-dimension executive-level reflection on whether your nonprofit is ready to grow. Visit the show notes for the downloadable tool. •       Episode 6 — The Revenue Mix Check: the funding model inventory, revenue runway map, and true-cost view of every funding stream. Visit the show notes for the downloadable tool. •       Episode 10 — The Systems Reality Check: the quarterly six-area operations diagnostic with the working-versus-pain quadrant. Visit the show notes for the downloadable tool. Websites and Social Company Website: tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran

    8 min

  4. May 11

    EP 11 [BONUS] With Sasha Crabtrey: Strong Operations Don't Slow Nonprofits Down — They Keep Them Standing

    What does it take to build operations that keep your organization running smoothly and at scale — even in challenging times? In this Force Multiplier episode, Tanja Horan sits down with Sasha Crabtrey, Founder of Remote COO, to explore why operations is not overhead — and what nonprofit leaders can do right now to build a stronger foundation for sustainability and impact. With 25+ years of experience spanning nonprofit operations, small businesses, and leading her own company, Sasha has seen firsthand what happens when programs outpace infrastructure. Growth without systems does not build strength. It magnifies existing problems. Through practical insight and real examples, you will hear why most operational challenges are not about bad leadership. They are about missing structure. Sasha shares why the bottleneck almost always runs through the top, how fractional operational support is one of the most underutilized tools available to nonprofits, and introduces three guiding questions every leader should ask to identify where to focus first. This conversation explores the real challenges nonprofit leaders face. The scarcity mindset around operations funding. The grants lost because processes were not in place. And why fixing the most fragile point first is always the right place to start. If you are carrying too much on your own, reacting instead of responding, or wondering where to start — this episode is for you. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways Operations is not overhead — it is capacity, risk mitigation, and insurance for leadership. Growth without infrastructure does not build strength. It magnifies existing problems. Most operational challenges are not about bad leadership. They are about missing structure. Clear ownership and defined workflows free up leadership and eliminate the bottleneck. About Sasha Crabtrey Sasha Crabtrey is the Founder of Remote COO, where she and her team of Core Operations Optimizers help small business owners and nonprofits do more of what they love. After 25+ years of experience in operations and project management — ranging from nonprofit operations to leading her own company — Sasha knows a "normal day" doesn't exist. Remote COO helps leaders pivot, prioritize, and make sure everything important is accomplished with excellence. Sasha's favorite kind of work includes developing strategies that build strong business foundations, handling complex operational challenges, and fostering collaborative partnerships. She is a generous listener, relating to business owners' struggles, providing solutions, and driving productivity. Sasha holds a BBA in Management from Texas A&M University's Mays School of Business and is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program. Sasha Crabtrey LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/crabtrey About Remote COO Remote COO provides strategic and tactical operational support for nonprofit leaders who are carrying too much on their own. Through their Core Operations Optimizers, they embed as a hands-on fractional administrative partner — taking ownership of systems, workflows, and day-to-day execution so leaders can step out of the weeds and stay focused on mission and impact. Remote COO website:  https://remotecoo.com Websites & Social Company Website: https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics: nonprofit operations, nonprofit leadership, nonprofit sustainability, nonprofit strategy, operational excellence, nonprofit capacity building, fractional operations, nonprofit infrastructure, nonprofit growth, scaling nonprofit impact

    29 min

  5. May 4

    EP 10 Stop Reacting. Start Responding. A Nonprofit Operations Reality Check

    Do you ever have the feeling something is not working — but it is not clear where to start and figure out why? Maybe you know why, and the list is so long it feels overwhelming. Maybe you think we'll address it later. But later never comes. Or maybe the challenge is the mantra, "that is just the way things are done". When everything needs attention, nothing gets attention. And leading from reactive mode is exhausting. In this Momentum Move episode of Make Nonprofits Profitable™, Tanja Horan introduces the Systems Reality Check, a practical quarterly assessment framework for nonprofit leaders to surface gaps and pain points across the core areas of an organization and turns them into a prioritized view of where to focus next. The framework scores each operational area across three dimensions: how well it is functioning, the pain it is causing, and whether it is documented. Then plot the results to identify what needs immediate attention versus what can wait. This is the third and final episode in the 3-part Operations & Infrastructure series. Episode 8 reframed operations as the engine behind nonprofit sustainability. Episode 9 explored how strong operations can be a competitive advantage. Episode 10 gives you a practical tool to assess where you are today and prioritize what to address next. If you are looking for a practical way to assess nonprofit operations, identify what is slowing your organization down, and build a clearer path forward, this episode gives you the framework to get started. Key Takeaways •       The Systems Reality Check is a quarterly framework to surface operational gaps, prioritize pain points, and stop reacting. •       Score each operational area on how well it is working (1–5) and how much pain it is causing (1–5), then plot the results on a simple quadrant. •       High pain, low working is the highest priority quadrant — address it first. •       Document processes that are working, even when they sit in low pain quadrants. Undocumented processes are tomorrow's risk. •       Run the exercise at every level of the organization. The disparity or alignment in scores is the data leadership needs. •       Quarterly is the right cadence. It gives the organization time to adapt and implement before the next review. DOWNLOAD:  Systems Reality Check Tool: https://bit.ly/system-reality-check Websites & Social Company Website: https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran

    12 min

  6. Apr 27

    EP 9 Stop Losing Sleep & Leverage Nonprofit Operations for a Competitive Advantage

    How many hours of sleep have you lost because every decision lands on your desk, donor nurturing is inconsistent, critical knowledge sits in one person's head, or there is no system in place to cut through the noise? For many nonprofit leaders, the answer is: too many. Nonprofit operations is an advantage that is often overlooked, undervalued, and underfunded and determines whether your organization operates reactively or intentionally. Strong operations make every program dollar work harder, protect your team from burnout, and provide the time and space to lead instead of constantly fighting fires. In this episode of Tanja's Take on Make Nonprofits Profitable™, Tanja Horan explores how to leverage nonprofit operations and infrastructure as a competitive advantage to advance your mission, scale your impact, and finally get some sleep. You will hear how Tanja's first job out of college taught her what well-run operations buys you and what nonprofits can learn from how Walmart used operations as a competitive advantage. Shifting to view operations as a competitive advantage influences how you prioritize, how you invest, and how you build for impact and sustainability. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are. Key Takeaways •       Strong nonprofit operations are a competitive advantage, not just an expense. •       Operations is invisible when it works well and uncomfortably visible when it does not. •       Weak operations is a risk to consistency, resiliency, and long-term impact. •       The three stages of operational maturity: foundational, functional, and optimized. •       Design operations for the organization you are building toward, not the one you are running today.   Websites and Social Company Website: https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360 Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran Topics nonprofit operations, nonprofit infrastructure, nonprofit competitive advantage, nonprofit sustainability, nonprofit leadership, scaling nonprofit impact,

    12 min

  7. Apr 20

    EP 8 Why More Funding Can't Sustain Your Mission Without Systems

    More money equals more people equals more impact. Is that true? While funding matters, it alone does not determine nonprofit sustainability or the ability to scale impact. The organizations that sustain and amplify impact are ones that build the operational foundation to deliver it consistently, sustainably, and at scale. Operations are the foundation that makes every program dollar work harder and go further. In this Reframe episode of Make Nonprofits Profitable™, Tanja Horan opens a new series by exploring why operations and infrastructure are the engine behind nonprofit sustainability, why the belief that lean is noble is costing organizations, and how to right-size systems and technology. This is the first in a three-part series on nonprofit operations and infrastructure, anchored in a reframe: operations is not overhead. It is the impact engine. You will learn why more funding does not automatically equal more impact — and what actually does. The answer to do more with less is not always cut more. Key Takeaways •          Nonprofit operations and infrastructure are the engine behind mission impact — not an overhead cost to minimize. •          Strong operational systems protect your people from burnout, turnover, and the cost of doing everything from scratch. •          Funders, customers, and partners do not separate nonprofit operations from the programs and services you deliver. •          Technology must be right-sized for your organization. The wrong tools cost more in time, money, and distraction than they save. Websites & Social Company Website: https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: [www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360](http://www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360) Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran

    13 min

  8. Apr 13

    EP 7 [BONUS] Hard-Earned Wisdom with Susan Dawson: Building Earned Revenue for Nonprofit Sustainability

    What separates nonprofits that sustain earned revenue and amplify their impact from those that don't? In this Force Multiplier episode, Tanja Horan sits down with Susan Dawson, Founder and President Emeritus of E3 Alliance, to explore what it takes to build earned revenue that strengthens and advances the mission. A trained engineer, Susan left the private sector to found E3 Alliance. What started on the back of a napkin grew into a nationally recognized model for collaboration across school districts, higher education, business, nonprofits, and policymakers. E3 Alliance has been recognized by The White House and the U.S. Department of Education for its objective, data-driven approach to building systems change in education. Founded in 2006, E3 Alliance is celebrating 20 years of impact. Susan is also the author of Changing Education Systems: Wisdom Gained by E3 Alliance in Driving Effective Change Using Data and Collaboration. The path was not always easy, and Susan shares the wisdom gained along the way. Through stories and real examples, you will hear how E3 Alliance built a more balanced funding model that includes earned revenue. Susan introduces the 70-30 framework used to guide mission and revenue decisions, along with a decision-making tool to evaluate what to keep and what to let go, and the moment her 16-year-old son perfectly summed up why being smart is not enough. You have to be pretty too. This conversation explores the real tradeoffs leaders face. When to say no. How to determine what is worth continuing. And why trust is the foundation for systems change. If you are thinking about earned revenue, scaling your organization, or building something that lasts, this episode offers practical insights to strengthen your nonprofit's sustainability. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.     Key Takeaways Define your primary objective before pursuing earned revenue to inform the right funding mix and model. Trust is the foundation for partnerships, growth, and long-term sustainability. Knowing when to let go is as important as knowing what to start. You have to be both smart and pretty. Pair objective data with compelling stories. The right revenue mix is a strategic decision, not a formula. It will look different for every organization.     About Susan Susan Dawson is the Founder and President Emeritus of E3 Alliance, a Texas-based education collaborative that partners with school districts, higher education institutions, businesses, nonprofits, and policymakers to drive systems change from cradle to career. A trained engineer, Susan founded E3 Alliance in 2006 after leaving the private sector. Under her leadership, E3 became a nationally recognized model for data-driven collaboration in education, with recognition from The White House and the U.S. Department of Education. Susan has been named one of Austin's 30 Most Influential Leaders by the Austin Business Journal, the 2019 national Cradle to Career Champion by StriveTogether, and the recipient of Leadership Austin's Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also named Austinite of the Year in 2020 by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, recognized for making a lasting impact on Austin's culture, economy, and quality of life. She is the author of Changing Education Systems: Wisdom Gained by E3 Alliance in Driving Effective Change Using Data and Collaboration. Purchase Susan's Book on Amazon https://a.co/d/0bNyimxd     About E3 Alliance E3 Alliance is a Texas-based education collaborative that partners with school districts, higher education institutions, businesses, nonprofits, and policymakers to drive education systems change through data and collaboration. www.e3alliance.org     Websites & Social Company Website : https://www.tacosa360.com Impact Catapult: www.impactcatapult.com YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Tacosa360     Connect with Tanja LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tanjahoran

    36 min
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Make Nonprofits Profitable™ challenges the conventional thinking holding nonprofits back from achieving their full impact. Each episode leaves you with a new perspective, an idea or tool you can actually apply to diversify funding, strengthen operations, and advance your mission. Build the organization your impact demands. By being the business you are.

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